The Biggest Cookout
In All of the Triangle
On June 23, 2012, the Apex Sunrise Rotary Club will bring the inaugural Peak City Pig Fest to Historic Downtown Apex. This free, family event is expected to attract 10,000 visitors to N. Salem Street.
The Peak City Pig Fest is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), the nation’s leading BBQ sanctioning body. Cook teams from all over the country will come to compete against each other for prize money cooking chicken, ribs, beef brisket and pork.
Judging will be conducted by KCBS certified BBQ judges (CBJ) using KCBS rules. We expect 30 professional BBQ cook teams to enter and compete for a total of more than $15,000 in prize money. This is the only KCBS-sanctioned event in the Triangle.
The Peak City Pig Fest will raise funds to support the community through the various causes supported by Rotary Club. These include Western Wake Crisis Ministry, a collection of church and local businesses whose mission is to provide a helping hand to the Apex & Holly Springs (NC) community – in the form of food or crisis financial aid – to those in the community whose ability to sustain independent living is threatened by unexpected circumstances: illness, car or home repairs, decrease in wages, etc.
For more information
Schedule
Thursday, June 21st
- VIP Kickoff Reception & Dinner
Friday, June 22nd
- Cook teams arrive and set up in assigned spaces
- Cook teams lunch – 12:00 noon
- Judges meeting- 4:00 p.m.
- Anything Butt Competition – 7:00 p.m.
- Competitive cooking begins
Saturday, June 23rd
- Gates open and entertainment starts at 9:00 a.m. in Historic Downtown Apex
- Judging begins at 12 noon
- People’s Choice 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Corn Hole Tournament starts at 2:30 p.m.
- Winners announced at 5:00 p.m.
Teams &
Judges
We have filled all 30 of our cook team spots and judges seats for the 2012 competition. If a cook team is interested in being an alternate in case of cancellations, please email peakcitypigfest@live.com for an application.
Sponsors
& Vendors
Opportunities for sponsorship and participation as a vendor at the Peak City Pig Fest are now available. For more information and to sign up to participate, please click on the appropriate link below.
About Apex
A major streetscape renovation project has restored Apex’s downtown and recaptured its historic flavor. The revitalized downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the best examples of an intact turn-of-the-century railroad town.
Apex was first settled around 1867 and was incorporated in 1873. The name “Apex” was adopted because the community was the highest point on the Chatham Railroad between Richmond, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida.
The Apex railroad station was first chartered in 1854 “for the purpose of affecting a communication between the North Carolina Railroad Company (at Raleigh) and the coal fields of Chatham County.” Because of the war and problems with Reconstruction, the first locomotive did not pass through Apex until 1869.
A community soon developed around the station. Stores and warehouses were built and many of the large forests in the area were converted to farmlands. Before long, Apex became an active trading and shopping center.
The Apex town motto, “Peak of Good Living” is appropriate for a number of historical reasons. Not only was the town named for being the highest point on the Chatham Railroad, but in places along the main street of Apex, water which falls on one side of the street flows to the Neuse River, and on the other side flows to the Cape Fear River.
